With a market-focused approach towards the formulation of drug delivery methods, there is an unending effort to develop suitable formulations that allow oral administration and, simultaneously, ensuring optimal bioavailability in patients.
Pharma excipients manufacturers know that making the right choice of excipients is vital to achieving this goal. And it can influence the shelf-life and stability of the drug product.
Many formulators are attempting to tackle both formulation and delivery options earlier during the drug development to reduce the need to rework the formulation at the further stages — requiring both time and resources — and accelerate time to market.
The influence of the patient experience and improving compliance is an increasingly important factor in dose design. Here too, excipients and formulation have a pivotal role.
Upgrading the feel and palatability of oral doses is essential for patient acceptability and so is ensuring that the capsules or tablets are easy to consume.
As such, excipients that can extend benefits in these measures prove to be more useful for formulation scientists.
So, as pharmaceutical excipient suppliers, we understand that choosing the right excipients can help decrease manufacturing expenses, increase shelf life and stability, and improve the patient experience.
How Do Formulators Choose The Right Pharmaceutical Excipients?
Choosing the appropriate excipients during the production of topical formulations is highly crucial. The drug substance might be effective, but its interaction with the excipient can alter several of the drug’s properties, including:
- The ability to permeate through skin.
- The stability and shelf-life.
- The capacity to not metabolize in skin.
- The capability to remain dissolved at the right concentration.
- The ability to deliver needed release rates.
It is vital to consider the choice of pharma excipients available– and have a clear rationale for their application. Formulation experts need to have a precise knowledge of the excipients attributes and of when specific materials should be applied.
In all regulatory submissions, the reviewers expect a justification for excipient selection, including the quantities used. Different grades of the identical excipient can have a different impact on the desired formulation behaviour.
Drug Formulators should also consider:
- The excipient’s compatibility with the drug substance: This is to ensure that there isn’t any undesired interaction that could impact the drug products’ shelf-life and stability. A drug-excipient compatibility examination is one of the first actions taken for any formulation development program.
- The excipients’ moisture content: In case the drug substance is moisture-sensitive.
- Any impurities in the excipients: The drug substance may be susceptible to trace amounts of reactive impurities. Proper care should be exercised to ensure suitable types of excipients are used.
- The particle size of fillers: When it comes to fillers like microcrystalline cellulose, particle size can be vital, based on the formulation and production processes.
The optimal formulation of a drug delivery system is defined by the properties of the excipients, drug substances, as well as the intended target region.
As trusted and experienced pharmaceutical excipient suppliers, we are poised to offer products that can help optimize the formulation of your drug delivery systems. Our excipients are designed to work with your drug substances to ensure heightened patient experience and the needed bioavailability in patients.
The value of the right formulation and delivery system in topical pharmaceuticals is critical. It can indicate the success or failure of any drug substance, and getting the right materials from the outset saves time and resources.